Não basta abrir a janela

Thanks to ‘Musings of a Random Mind‘ I’ve been discovering Portuguese poetry. My title ‘Não basta abrir a janela’ (It isn’t enough to open the window) is the opening line of a poem by Alberto Caeiro (one of Fernando Pessoa’s alter egos). He encourages us to dream of what might be seen if the window was opened.

I am guessing when Fernando wrote ‘To See the fields and river’ he was fortunate enough to be in a house with glazed windows or at least residing in one where there were windows with shutters. Not every house does in Portugal! Dan Stanislawski in his superb book ‘Portugal’s Other Kingdom – The Algarve‘ noted in 1963 that it was not uncommon to find houses in the mountains without any window openings at all. And even these days you will spot dwellings without windows, although most that are still occupied seem to have at least one opening.

If you are wondering why so many windows, well today happens to be opening day of Dawn’s August ‘A Lingering Look at Windows’. It is also a year this month since my last janela collection. Happy Windowversary to me!

PS If you are interested in Portuguese poetry return to the top of the page and either follow the link to Musings of a Random Mind, or if you want to enjoy ‘to see the fields and river’ in full follow the second link for both the original Portuguese and a good English translation.

Author: BeckyB

It had been a good life walking, cooking, photographing, volunteering, blogging, and best of all spending time with MrB, family, & friends. Sadly it is no longer what it was, as suddenly and unexpectedly I became a widow.

8 thoughts

  1. You’ve gathered a great collection of windows there. I couldn’t live in a house without them – the first thing I do every morning is look out of mine. I didn’t much like the outside grilles (rejas) on our Spanish windows, I like a nice clear unrestricted view!

  3. I LOVE interesting windows! … and I was always curious about the buildings without any. I’m assuming it was to keep the inside cool in summer? All I know is, I couldn’t live in a home without windows!!

    My favourite is the window painting 🙂

    1. Yes that seems to be the thinking behind it cool in summer and warmer in winter. I’m with you though I couldn’t live in them either . . . .
      and yes that one is brilliant isn’t it. You will still see women dressed exactly like that in some of the smaller villages and towns watching out of a window as you walk past

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